If you watch Texas hold’em on television, it may be difficult to know what the players are doing. Why did they raise with J9 in this situation and fold in that situation? How did that player call the river with a pair in this hand but fold a flush in that one?
The rules of Texas hold’em are simple, but playing the game may be more complicated that it first appears. When you play online, it’s important to know some basic Texas holdem strategy that can give you an edge over your opponents.
Hand Selection
You should try to limit the range of hands you will play, especially when you are starting out in Texas hold’em. If you are playing many hands like 9 2 and T 6, you will typically miss the flop and have to give up your pre-flop bets. Or, you will see a flop like T 4 2 and lose many chips to someone with AT.
Position
As you are later to act in the hand, you can play more hands, because you will have more information to make your decisions. With T6 on the T 4 2 flop, if everyone checks to you, there is a much better chance that a bet will win you the pot.
If three people check to you four more people act, you have a real problem. If you bet and someone raises, what will you do? If you check and someone bets, is he betting because he has something or because he thinks no one else has anything? This is why position is so important when deciding which hands to play.
Online Data Mining
When you play a live game with a familiar opponent, it may be hard to remember exactly how he played the last time you met. This is no problem when playing Texas holdem online.